Cigarette lighter



April 28, 1964 s. H. NEWMAN CIGARETTE LIGHTER Filed March 7, 1961 Fig.3

Fig.4

INVENTOR. y H. Newman Srunle BY United States Patent 3,130,557 CIGARETTE LIGHTER Stanley H. Newman, Schwartz 8; Frohlich, 19 E. 79th St, New York, N.Y. Filed Mar. 7, 1961, Ser. No. 93,919 1 Claim. (ill. 677.I)

The present invention relates to cigarette lighters of a type which employs as a fuel a compressed inflammable gas such as butane. In particular, the present invention relates to a mechanism for opening a valve to permit gaseous fuel to escape from a tank where it is stored.

Lighters employing gaseous fuel (normally called gas lighters) have in recent years become quite popular and are widely used. The gaseous fuel is stored in liquid form in a supply tank which is normally equipped with a combination valve and burner tube. The tank has sufficient capacity to store several months supply of fuel and, therefore, the user does not have the inconvenience of frequently refueling the lighter as is the case with lighters using liquid fuel.

With gas lighters, in order to permit gaseous fuel to escape from the tank, the normal procedure has been to use a valve lifting mechanism to raise the burner tube which in turn opens the valve. Such a combination valve and burner assembly is shown in my copending patent application Serial No. 671,053, filed July 10, 1957.

A shortcoming of the prior art valve lifter mechanism has been the jamming of the valve lifter against the burner tube. This sometimes results in damage to the valve lifter and/ or to the burner tube and the valve.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a valve lifter mechanism which is substantially jamproof and, yet, one which is easily and effectively operated. Another object of the present invention is to provide a valve lifter mechanism which is easily and economically manufactured and assembled.

In the accompanying drawings and the specification herein an embodiment of the present invention in gas lighters is shown. This embodiment is for the purpose of disclosing the invention to those skilled in the art so that they may practice it in its various forms within the spirit and the scope of the claims set forth hereinafter. The illustrated embodiment is not to be considered as a limitation of the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of a lighter of the gas type;

FIGURE 2 is a top view of the lighter shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 13 is a side view of a fuel storage tank and the valve and burner tube assembly;

FIGURE 4 is a top view of the tank and valve and burner tube assembly of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view of the valve lifter and spark wheel assembly of the lighter of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 6 is a top sectional view of the valve lifter and spark wheel assembly of FIGURE 5 in the direction of arrows 66 of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the valve lifter and spark wheel assembly of the lighter of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 8 is a View similar to FIGURE 7 with the valve lifter shown in engagement with the burner tube.

Referring to the drawings and to FIGURES 1 and 2 in particular, the gas cigarette lighter 10 comprises an outer casing 12 with a top flame opening 14. In FIG- URES 3 and 4 a tank 16 with the combination assembly of a valve 18 and a burner tube 20 are shown, and these are inserted into the lower portion of the casing 12.

A valve lifting mechanism and a spark wheel assembly as shown in FIGURES 5-8 are mounted in the upper portion of the casing 12. The spark wheel assembly is 3,130,567. Patented Apr. 28, 1964 comprised of an abrasive wheel 22 which is rotatably placed on a pivot 24, the pivot 24 being mounted on a casing 26. A flint 28 is located in a flint tube 30 which is positioned beneath the abrasive wheel 22. A spring loaded flintholder assembly 32 maintains the flint 28 in pressing contact with the abrasive wheel 22.

A spark guard 34 is also mounted on the pivot 24 and it is positioned about the abrasive wheel 22. When the spark guard 34 and the abrasive wheel 22 are rotated, the abrasive wheel 22 contacts the flint 28 causing a spark to be thrown off in the direction of the burner tube 20. The burner tube 20 is positioned within the reach of sparks generated by the spark wheel assembly and advantageously as near as practical to the spark ignition point.

In order to open the valve 18 and to permit gas to escape from the burner tube 20, it is necessary that means be furnished to open the valve at the proper time so that a cloud of gaseous fuel will be in the path of sparks which are generated. Therefore, the opening of the valve means must be coordinated with action of the spark wheel assembly.

As pointed out hereinbefore, valve lifters of the prior art have sometimes jammed against the burner tube and caused damage to the lighter mechanism and/or the burner and valve. Accordingly, I have overcome this disadvantage by the construction shown in FIGURES 58, in particular. The burner tube 20, which is axially movable, is lifted upwardly by means of a valve lifter 36 to open the valve 18. The valve lifter 36 is comprised of a resilient flat metal piece having a bifurcated or forked forward end 38, a bent or concave intermediate portion 4% and a rear or mounting end 42. The forward end 38 is adapted to be moved into position so its fingers 39 straddle the burner tube 20. Thereafter, when the forward end 38 is moved upwardly, the burner tube 20 will follow and the valve 18 will be opened permitting the gaseous fuel to escape from the storage tank 16.

To activate the spark assembly and move the valve lifter 36, a pressure piece 44 is rockably mounted on a pivot 46 which in turn is mounted on a frame 48. A spring support 50 is positioned within the pressure piece 44 and this spring support is attached to the rear end 42 of the valve lifter 36. A keeper spring 52 urges the pressure piece 44 rearwardly as shown in the illustrated embodiment. As shown in FIGURE 5 in particular, the pressure piece 44 is normally seated on a shoulder 54 so that the backward rotation of the pressure piece 44 due to the keeper spring 52 is limited.

Extending forwardly from the pressure piece 44 is a pair of arms 56. On the end portion of each arm an inwardly directed lug 58 is located. Slots 60 are cut in the spark guard 34 and the lugs 58 fit into these slots 60 when the pressure piece 44 is pressed forwardly and rocked about the pivot 46.

When the pressure piece 44 is rocked forwardly, the spring support 543 is also carried along with it. This movement of the spring support 50 imparts a forward motion to the valve lifter 36. At the same time the lugs 58 travel the full extent of the slots 60 and then impart rotary motion to the abrasive Wheel 22 and the spark guard 34 causing them to rotate about the pivot 24. Sparks are thrown off by the contact of the abrasive wheel 22 with the flint 28; but, just prior to the generation of the sparks the valve lifter 36 is moved sufliciently forward so that the fingers 39 straddle the burner tube 20. The continued rotary travel of the pressure piece 44 causes the concave portion 40 of the valve lifter to contact an abutment piece 62 so that the forward end 38 of the valve lifter is cammed upwardly. The upward movement of the forward end 38 causes the burner tube 20 to be raised and, therefore, the valve 18 is opened unease? so that gaseous fuel from the tank 16 is ignited by the sparks.

As long as the pressure piece .4 is pushed forwardly as shown in the illustrated embodiment gas will continue to flow from the burner tube 20. When a flame is no longer desired, the pressure piece 44 is allowed to rock back- Wardly and the valve lifter 36 retracts. The burner tube 20 which is spring loaded is then returned downwardly and the valve 18 is closed, thus shutting off the escape of gaseous fuel.

If in rocking the pressure piece forwardly the forward end 33 of the valve lifter is slightly out of alignment with the burner tube 20 and the fingers 39 do not straddle the tube 20, the spring support 50 acts as a shock absorber and prevents the valve lifter from being jammed against the burner tube 20 even through the pressure piece continues to rotate. The mounting of the valve lifter on the spring support 50 gives the lifter mechanism a floating action. Thus, the present lighter assembly is substantially jamproof.

It is to be understood that the term cigarette lighter as used in this specification is generically used and includes lighters used for lighting pipes, cigars and other related uses.

I claim:

In a cigarette lighter of the type which uses as a fuel a compressed inflammable gas, the combination of a tank adapted to store a supply of fuel under pressure, a gas valve and burner tube assembly having a longitudinal axis with a flange means on the burner tube and said assembly connected to said tank, said burner tube being axially movable whereby gaseous fuel may escape therefrom when said valve is in an open position, a

valve lifting assembly including a valve lifter, a resilient support for said valve lifter, a frame, a valve lifter support positioned beneath the valve lifter, a pressure piece, means for movably mounting the pressure piece, and cam means for carnming the valve lifter into lifting engagement with the burner tube, said valve lifter being connected at one end to the resilient support and adapted to be slidably moved, the other end of the valve lifter being bifurcated and normally adapted to align with and en age the burner tube, said resilient support being positioned in the pressure piece, the means for movably mounting the pressure piece being connected to the frame, said cam means being positioned whereby said other bifurcated end of the valve lifter is moved upwardly when the pressure piece is moved and the resilient support positioned therein is urged by the pressure piece towards the valve and burner tube so that the valve lifter mounted on said support normally aligns with and contacts the flange on the burner tube and opens the valve permitting gaseous fuel to flow therefrom, said resilient support adapted to give under the influence of the pressure piece when the valve lifter is out of alignment with the burner tube and fails to engage said tube properly to provide a lifting action.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,664,008 Gessmann Dec. 29, 1953 2,701,955 Gevirman Feb. 15, 1955 2,943,471 Newman July 5, 1960 3,007,328 Zahn NOV. 7, 1961 

